Baby Arthur’s Story

Advocacy worker and manager of Kindred’s Hospital Team, Veronica Warrington shares her experience of supporting Baby Arthur and his parents during the first Covid lockdown.

Communication, financial support & residency

As English is not her first language, Arthur’s mum, Rafaela, communicates mainly through email and text, using Google translate.  Kindred staff meet up with Rafaela as necessary with an Interpreter and the medical team and have also used a translation service to exchange important information quickly.  Kindred secured essential funding to help with all the additional costs of being at the hospital.  COVID -19 put additional strain on this family as Dad lost his income.  The family were supported to apply for benefits that they are entitled to including DLA, Child benefit and a Blue Badge for Arthur.  The family’s situation is complex regarding residency and they required support to liaise with different agencies including the Ethnic Minorities Law Centre and the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Finding the right home and securing benefits

The family were initially in a rented room within a house and this was very stressful for them so they were supported to secure their own tenancy; they are currently in temporary adapted accommodation with Link Housing.  However, they are also bidding for a permanent property to meet Arthur’s needs in the longer term.  Kindred has worked closely with Discharge Liaison, Link Housing, and specialist EEA Housing officer and the council around ensuring housing benefits, council tax and energy bills are all assessed properly for this family. The Consultants have continued to provide updated medical letters to support applications and in liaison with Social Work.

Arthur gets his buggy

Finally, Kindred helped secure funding to get Arthur’s buggy.  Arthur had his first walk outside the hospital in his buggy in October. He was so excited and really happy with his new experience as were his parents.  Arthur is now home safely with his family after 11 months in hospital.